Two Steps Forward and One Step Back: Coverage of Women Journalists in Editor & Publisher 1978 through 1988

Abstract

Despite securing many “firsts” in journalism and surpassing males in journalism school enrollment, women journalists in the 1970s were also filing complaints of sex discrimination. One of the harder-fought sex discrimination cases was settled out of court by The New York Times in 1978, signifying a message of change at one of America's most tradition-bound newspapers. This study examined the coverage of women journalists in Editor & Publisher magazine during the decade following the settlement of this case. Overall, the coverage indicated that despite the growth and struggles far women journalists in the 1970s, the next decade brought more battles.